Projectile



M. L. LEE

PROJ ECTILE March 27, 1945.

Filed March 19; 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Wea/Q15@ BY? @wmf March27, 1945. MQ l.. LEE 2,372,383

PROJECTILE Filed March 19, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 27,191:15

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE moments.

Martin L. Lee, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application March 19, 1942, Serial No. 435,323

2 Claims. v(C1. 1oz-63) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in projectiles, and relates more particularly to animproved projectile designed primarily, lthough not exclusively, foranti-,aircraft work, the projectile being so arranged as to spread whatmaybe properly termed a net or screenv over a very considerable area,upon the projectile reaching a predetermined altitude, which screen isformed of a number of components in the nature of the exible cables,chains, elongated flat steel strips, and the like.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision of aprojectile of the character described which will spread a metal screenover a sufficient area as to entangle aircraft, destroying i itscovering and rendering its controls useless.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a projectilehaving a novel casing formed in a plurality of intertting or articulatedsections firmly held together by suitable retaining means, such as aclamping element extending longitudinally of the projectile, suchprojectile further being provided with suitable timed means forreleasing the clamping elements and thus freeing all sections of theprojectile, to each of which are attached one ormore of the cables, hatcc-iled springs, and the like. The releasing means may constitute anexplosive charge which is detonated by the time-controlled means. isinitially applied to the projectile by means of the usual rotating bandwhich is engaged by the ri'iling of the gun barrel, and when a time fusedetonates the relatively small explosive charge,

certain frangible` portions of the clampingele-` ment are broken, thuscausing the many sections of the projectile casing to travel in manydirections, drawing with' them streamers of various kinds.

The devices of the art having tightly wound steel bands or cables haveproved generally unsatisfactory for the reason that they have been builtaround the general idea of the shrapnel type of projectile which carriesa very considerable explosive charge, and when the charge was denoted,the principal damage was the destruction of the streamers themselves,which thus had no opportunity of uncoiling and performing their intendedfunction. Moreover, the bursting charge did not even convert the steelbands or cables into eiective shrapnel.` Y

A projectile constructed in accordance with the present invention willhave the effect of throwing a huge net over a very considerable area,and being formed, as it with a. variety of elcmgated'l Gyratory motionelements, it will serve a plurality of destructive functions.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improvedintegrated casing structure, the component parts of which' willinstantly ily in all directions due to centrifugal action, immediatelyon being released.

It will be appreciated that the projectile of the present invention maybe utilized not alone for anti-aircraft purposes, but will have avariety of other important uses as well. For instance, it may be used inconnection with both land and naval fighting, and because of the widescreen its component parts will form, it can be used in surprise tacticsand will deal destruction as well as demoralization to the enemy. Whenthe projectile is fired into a wooded section, the stream ers Iwillentwine themselves about trees, parts of tanks, etc. The streamers willthus foul moving parts on mobile structures, and will reduce theireffectiveness if not render them useless. When fired into the air, thestreamers form an eiective barrage which will not only become entangledin an aircraft at which the same is fired, but will prove equallydestructive for other craft following.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a central longitudinal section taken through the preferredembodiment of the present invention. p

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view showing the position of the several parts ofthe projectile upon the release of the clamping elements supporting theprojectile casing.

Fig. 5 is another exploded view taken generally transversely of the Viewshown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is still another exploded View showing the position of severalparts of the projectile when they have reached substantially theiroutermost limit.

Fig. 7 is a broken plan view showing a section of the nat steel springhaving a serrated edge.

into its cylindrical form, is provided with an annular recess at itslower end which is received within an annular flanged portion 2| in anafterbody 22. On the outer periphery of the afterbody 22 the usualrotating band 23 is provided.

A continuous annular recess 24 is formed around the top of lowermostsection l0, and within this recess a continuous annular flange 25 formedaround the lower edge of section is received. .A similar recess 26around the upper end of section vr|| receives a continuous annularflange 21 around the lower end of uppermost section I2, which section istapered, as shown at 3|. At its upper end this section is formed With aflange 32 which is received within an annular recess 33 in a nosesection 34. At its .forward end, the nose section is provided with aplurality of time-setting bands 35, and Within the nose section aconventional time fuse is positioned. The details of this time fuse arenot shown'herein for the reason that its construction is well known inthe art. The time fuse is set in operation in a well known manner. justbefore the firing of the projectile and is adapted to explode the chargeat a later fixed time. The time fuse portion .is received in a threadedaperture .3B in .the nose section.

Afterbody 2,2 is connected Vwith nose section 34 by means of a tubular.member '31 which may contain a relatively light .explosive charge 4|..If desired, Vthe upper end of tubular member 31 may be formedintegrally with :nose section 34, and adjacent to its upper end, tubular`member 431 is provided with an internal or external annular recess 42forming a weakened portion which permits the tubular element to breakvwhen the explosion takes place as a result of the .detona'tion At itslower end, tubular element 31 .is received, as at 43, in a central screwelement `44 in afterbody 22. It will thus be seen that when the sev eralparts of the device are assembled n vthe manner shown .in Fig. l, theentire projectile .is a rigid unit .and will maintain its rigidity priorto the .explosion of charge 4|.

It will accordingly be appreciated .that there is formed a continuousbore in the casing ex tending from afterbody 22 to nose element $34, andat thelower end of this chamber one or more lengths of cable 46 arepositioned. These cables may be stranded, or otherwise, and may 'be ofvarying 'thickness ydepending .upon the particular work which it isdesired to accomplish.v Rather than have such cables coiled aroundtubular member 31, it is preferred to have the cablecoiled back andforth upon itself, kand to have the opposite terminals of each lengthsecured to opposite sides of the quarter sections I3 to I6, as shown at48. v

Within that portion of the bore enclosed by section a plurality oflengths of hat spring steel 55, or other similar metal, are Itightlycoiled around tubular element 31. At their outer' terminals these stripsmay be secured to one ofthe quarter sections to I5, as shown at 56, andat their inner terminals they may be secured to 'the tubular member, asshown at 51. The number of such coiled spring members 55 is, vof course,a matter of choice, although in Fig. 1 four Yof such elements arepositioned within section Il, the outer terminals of each being securedto the several quarter sections to |5, respectively. Within the forwardsection I2, a plurality of cable elements 46 are also positioned and areconnected `at their terminals with the respective quarter sections.

Referring now to Fig. 5, it will be noted that rotation due to thecooperation between rotating band 23 and the riiiing of the gun barrelis imparted to the projectile in the direction indicated by the arrow..When the time fuse is detonated, the terminals of tubular member 31 aresevered at the weakened portions 42 and 45, as shown in the explodedview of Fig. 4. At this instant, nose section 34 and afterbody 22 areseparated from the balance .of the projectile, thus permitting all ofthe quarter sections to become released for free flight. Due tocentrifugal action, these quarter sections will fly outwardly, and atthe same time tubular element 31 will continue rotating, thus unwindingthe tightly coiled springs 55. At the same instant the other quartersections connected with cables 46 likewise fly outwardly, drawing withit the cables, and eventually assume substantially the positionindicated schematically in Fig. 6.

IThere vis thus thrown up a plurality of net-like structures which covera very considerable area, and it will be appreciated that an aircraftpassing through the area covered by these net-like structures willalmost of necessity encounter one 4or more -of the streamer elementswhich may foul the propeller or propeller shaft, become entangled .inthe rudders, ailerons, and other oontrol elements, and will also tend torip the covering off the wing and fuselage. order :to 'make the damageeven more .eectiva :the flatzspringlike structures 6| showninFig. '1.maybegformed with serrated or saw-.tooth edges, as Ishown ,at `|52.

A modification in the casing is .shown at 1| .in Fig. 8 wherein thevforward section is formed in two .half-sections 12 and 13 theintermediate section being formed in two half-sections 14, only one ofwhich can ybe seen in the view shown, and the after section likewiselbeing composed .of .two half-sections 15 and 1B. The afterbody 11 `alsoincludes the usual rotating ring 18. .The meeting edges 19 and 80joining the two half-sections of each section are staggered in themanner shown,

and accordingly a greater stability and rigidityv wise, the particulararrangement .of streamers in the several sections may be veryconsiderably mod-ined Without departing .from the vspirit of theinvention. In .some'instances, it may be desirable t0 eliminate thecables entirely and employ only the at steel spring-like elements, andin other instances .only the cables may be used. 'I'heflat coiledelements are nevertheless very effective in providing a high order of.destructibility to .any aircraft passing through the area coveredthereby. Moreover, they uncoil very rapidly due to their tight winding.All of the coiled spring elements may be wound vin the same directionand in the same direction as the projectile rotates, as

indicated in Fig. 5, or lthey maybe coiled in `different directions, asindicated in Fig. 4.

What I claim is:

1. A projectile of the character described `comprising a casing formedfrom va plurality 4of axially aligned, generally cylindrical sections,.and including an afterbody section and a tapered forward section, eachof the cylindrical sections 'in' cluding a; plurality of quartersections, which.'

when joined together, forrn a cylindrical section, the severalcylindrical sections being provided with interlocking, complementaledges, retaining means extending axially between the aftcrbody and thetapered sections comprising a vtubular element, an explosive chargecontained in such tubular element, such element having weakened portionsadjacentto its points of connection with the afterbody and the taperedsections, means for detonating the charge to release the sections andthe portions thereof,.a plurality of elongated, flexible, coiledelements positioned within the casing and secured at their terminals tothe quarter sections,` and means for imparting rotation to theprojectile during flight.

2. A projectile of the character described comprising a casing formedfrom a plurality of axially aligned, generally cylindrical sections, andincluding an aterbody section and a tapered forward section, each of thecylindrical sections including a plurality of smaller sections, which,

when joined together, form one cylindrical sec' tion, the opposedannular edges of several cylindrical sections being provided withcomplemental Vtongue-and-groove joints, retaining means extendingaxially between the afterbody and the tapered sections comprising atubular element, an explosive charge contained in such tubular element,such element having. weakened portions adjacent its points of connection-with the afterbody and the tapered sections, time-actuated means in thetapered section for detonating the charge to release the sections andthe portions thereof, and a plurality of elongated, flexible elementspositioned within the casing and secured at their terminals to thesmaller sections.

MARTIN L. LEE.

